Faculty, administrative staff are encouraged to participate in summer commencement

Faculty and administrative staff are encouraged to march in the University of North Dakota's summer commencement ceremony Friday, Aug. 3. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. at the Chester Fritz Auditorium. Faculty and administrative staff are asked to wear academic regalia, and report to the lower level of the Chester Fritz Auditorium for directions to the assembly area. Volunteers and student marshals will be on hand to help all faculty and administrative staff ceremony participants.

Administrative staff members are also cordially invited to march in the commencement processional in academic regalia. Those planning to participate should contact Terri Machart in the Office of the Vice President for Student and Outreach Services at 777-2724 by Wednesday, Aug. 1 to confirm their plans.

Please contact the Office of Ceremonies and Special Events at 777-2724 with any questions.

The Quasquicentennial (UND's 125th Anniversary) will be celebrated in 2008. In preparation for "The Q," I invite you to participate in the Photo on the Green. This will be the first celebration of many that will help the community honor the University's long history and growing future. The Photo on the Green will be held Monday, Aug. 20, on the Carnegie Hall north lawn (behind the Chester Fritz Library). The event will begin at 1 p.m. and the photo will be taken at 1:25 p.m. The first 5,000 people to come will receive a free commemorative 125th anniversary T-shirt. I encourage all members of the UND family to take part, including students, staff, faculty, alumni and other members of the campus community. The goal is to have thousands of participants form a large UND flame logo on the campus lawn. Please invite all students, faculty, and staff to participate. The process of taking the photo will be videotaped by the Television Center, and the resulting short video will be used to promote UND's 125th anniversary. So mark your calendars to be a part of UND history.

In an effort to make it go as smoothly as possible, here are a few general directions:

• The UND marching band students will serve as our guide for making the UND formation. They will arrive early and be in GRAY T-shirts. Other pre-identified groups who are able to commit enough time to work with the marching band will help “thicken” the letters. We expect each letter to be about four people wide.

• Between 1 and 1:15 p.m., everyone who plans to participate should come to the lawn area between the Chester Fritz Library and Carnegie Hall. T-shirt distribution stations will be set up along the sidewalks or main entry points to the area. You will receive a GREEN T-shirt. All T-shirts are men’s XL.

• Limited quantities of GREEN T-shirts are also available in advance at Barnes & Noble, the T-shirt sponsor, between Aug. 13–17.

• All people wearing GREEN T-shirts should fill in around and in between the UND letters (GRAY T-shirts). Get close! We are hoping to have thousands participate.

• Once we are in formation (planning for 1:25 p.m.), the historical photo will be taken. We also are videotaping the event for TV commercials and other purposes so you will be directed to say a few phrases in unison, such as “The Q is Coming!” We plan for this part to take no longer than 5-7 minutes.

A lot of planning has gone into making this event happen, but since we have never done anything like this before, we do ask for your patience and cooperation. The Photo on the Green will be a fun and memorable event that we will use to celebrate our 125th Anniversary. So cross your fingers for nice weather and show your UND spirit on Aug. 20!

Thank you to Barnes & Noble, the University Bookstore, for sponsoring the 125th Anniversary T-shirts for this exciting event. If you plan to participate in the Photo on the Green, you may pick up your T-shirt (while supplies last) at Barnes & Noble from Aug. 13-17. -- Charles Kupchella, president.

Crimson Creek's final production of 2007 features a legendary score by Leonard Bernstein. “Candide” is perhaps the most often revived of the classic cult musicals. Part sophisticated operetta, part wacky screwball comedy with shades of Monty Python, this funny, irreverent satire is the perfect musical expression of Voltaire’s tongue-in-cheek send-up of optimistic philosophies.

“The Crimson Creek Players were created to provide professional opportunities to regional performers and to highlight challenging and exciting musical theatre,” said Benjamin Klipfel, the production’s producer. “Candide, with it’s challenging score and fantastic music, fits directly into our mission.”

In two lightning-paced acts, the hapless bastard cousin Candide is expelled from home, drafted into the Bulgarian army, brought before the Spanish Inquisition, swindled out of a fortune, shipwrecked on a desert isle, and separated time and again from his true love Cunegonde, who bears with remarkable dignity a variety of carnal besmirchments by almost everybody. Through it all, Candide remembers the lesson of his dear master Dr. Pangloss: that “everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.”

“Candide’s humor is found in the satire of optimism,” said Job Christenson, director. “Though it takes place over a century ago, the show’s take on topics such as religion and politics are as relevant today as when the show was written.”

With its wicked sense of humor and challenging musical score, “Candide” is home to the famous aria "Glitter and be Gay." The tune of the up-tempo section is well-known from its prominence in the show's overture as well as from its use for years as the theme music of Dick Cavett's talk show. This aria poses considerable difficulties. In sheer vocal/technical terms, it is among the most fiendishly challenging coloratura soprano arias.

"Candide" is most known for its colorful and varied score, and is considered by many the wittiest – indeed, funniest – operetta (whose plot encompasses rape, murder, executions, religious persecution and bodily mutilation) ever penned.

The show runs Wednesday through Saturday, Aug. 8-11, at Burtness Theatre on the UND campus (parking will be marked with signs). A special closing night performance and backstage with the arts is Aug. 11. Backstage begins at 6:30 p.m., production begins at 7:30.p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for seniors/students. Tickets can be purchased for all performances from the Chester Fritz Box Office at 777-4090, or at the door (subject to availability). For more information and cast list, visit http://www.culturepulse.org/index.php?app=eventDetail&id=805.

The University’s summer events program offers a wide range of activities for the community during the summer months, such as cultural or athletic events, youth camps or specialized workshops. Events are typically open to the public.

For more information about the "Summer at UND" program, to register for UND's Summer Sessions, or to view a calendar of events from Aug. 1 - Aug. 31, visit www.summer.und.edu. If you have additional questions on summer credit courses, call the Summer Sessions Office at 777-6284. Or if you have questions on events/activities, contact the Summer Events Office at 777-0841.-- Jolene Marsh, Summer Events Office Assistant, Continuing Education, jolenemarsh@mail.und.edu, 701-777-0841

Guo-Huang Fan, assistant professor of pharmacology at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., will present a seminar titled “Chemokine Receptors in Neurodegeneration: Implications in Alzheimer’s Disease” at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, in the Clifford Haugen Lecture Hall (Room 1360), School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Fan is a candidate for a faculty position in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics. Dr. Fan is the first of five very strong applicants for the vacant position who we have invited to interview at UND. All are welcome to attend the seminar. -- PPT.

We will administer behind-the-wheel large passenger van training Thursday, Aug. 2, with limited time-slots available. This training is in addition to a web-based training which is available Monday through Friday by appointment only at the Transportation Department. Please call 777-4122 to register for either or both of these courses.

Please review the large-passenger van policy that is located on the web. Access the UND transportation web site and enter the North Dakota State Fleet connection for details.-- Mary L. Metcalf, Manager, Transportation, marymetcalf@mail.und.edu, 701-777-4123

A feast of fiction, a taste of journalism, and a dash of poetry with some memoir sprinkled in. That's what students can expect at the University of North Dakota Summer Writing Camp Aug. 6-10, Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Directed by professional writers Peter Johnson and Kate Sweney, the camp will operate out of the writing lab in the UND School of Communication, located in O’Kelly Hall.

Designed for students 15-19 years of age, the UND Summer Writing Camp will help students build on current writing skills, introduce new writing skills, and learn about a variety of writing techniques and genres. Students will be exposed to a variety of genres of reading and writing, including journalism, literary journalism and fiction. In addition to talking about writing and reading published writers’ work, students will have time each session to do their own writing on UND computers.

"This camp is a chance to discover the magic of writing, the magic that transforms daily experience and observations into works of art that connect us with the larger world. That magic is best discovered through writerly muscles developed by writing and responding to work with other writers in a supportive atmosphere," said Sweney. She has worked with great writing teachers and editors for more than 20 years and enjoys teaching the craft to others. She has been a newspaper reporter, a technical writer and an editor. She co-edited "Day In, Day Out: Women’s Lives in North Dakota" and has written many articles for various papers and magazines including "USA Today" and "True West." She teaches writing at UND.

Students will learn tips about the art and craft of writing from some of the world's best writers. A key to succeeding in any chosen field in life is the ability to communicate effectively through writing. We’ll help students develop the tools that will help them succeed at whatever kind of writing they wish to pursue," said Johnson, a published writer for more than 30 years. UND's media relations coordinator since 1988, Johnson has taught writing at the University of North Dakota, Lake Region State College, Central High School in Grand Forks, the Northern Interscholastic Press Association, and the North Dakota Newspaper Association. He has been a journalist and editor for seven publications, and has won writing awards through the North Dakota Newspaper Association and the North Dakota Jaycees. He holds degrees in English and education, and he's been certified to teach English at the high school level in North Dakota.

Cost is $110. To register or to find out more, contact Peter Johnson at peterjohnson@mail.und.edu or at 777-4317.

The John Behling Trio will perform in the Museum sculpture garden from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7. This event is an informal, bring-your-own-chair or blanket outdoor concert series. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase. Museum Café chef, Justin Welsh, will be working the grill. Entrance tickets are $5 for adults, children 12 and younger are free. UND has designated free parking in the Gustafson parking lot west of the Museum. Look for signage.

The John Behling Trio plays contemporary jazz standards and original compositions that draw on a variety of modern jazz styles. Although the trio is a new addition to the Grand Forks music scene, they have been performing locally and nationally for many years.

The North Dakota Museum of Art is located on Centennial Drive, Grand Forks. For more information visit www.ndmoa.com or call 701-777-4195. Summer hours: weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends 1 to 5 p.m. Museum Cafe hours: weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for coffee and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch.-- Brian Lofthus, Assistant to the Director, North Dakota Museum of Art, blofthus@ndmoa.com, 777-4195

The North Dakota Museum of Art announces the opening exhibition for Kellyann Burns, Jim Dow and Brian Paulsen from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, with an informal gallery talk by all three artists at 7 p.m. The exhibitions for Kellyann Burns and Brian Paulsen will be on display through Oct. 7, while the Jim Dow exhibit closes Sept. 16.

Burns creates taut and luscious minimal paintings and drawings that trace their roots to earlier minimal and color field paintings, plus not so spare collages cut from the sandpaper she uses to pare away her paint surfaces. According to Museum Director Laurel Reuter, “This Brooklyn artist continues to feed my inner need to look at painting. Her most beautiful creations exist in a world that thinks it has lost its appetite for both painting and beauty.”

Paulsen, long recognized as a major North Dakota artist, has been winning prizes across the country for decades. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see his insouciant, irrational, and serendipitous paintings on paper—all 13.25 x 9 inches — and even smaller drypoint engravings. As part of this celebration of Paulsen's life in North Dakota, the North Dakota Museum of Art is publishing an accompanying book about his art made between 1990 and 2007.

Dow has been coming to North Dakota since 1981. First, he photographed folk art within the environment: sculpture, murals, carvings, and then tourist traps, odd manifestations, surface appearances, and the stuff farmers made in their shops during long winter months. Gradually, his vision expanded to include vernacular architecture: people's places of business, classrooms, workshops, homes, backyards, and hunting lodges, as well as churches and cemeteries and prison yards. Twenty-five years and 300 photographs later, the project coalesces into this North Dakota portrait, a gentle assessment of a time, a land, and its people, and, just outside the picture frame, the weather that mandates endless change.

"Marking the Land: Jim Dow in North Dakota" is a moving reflection by a leading American photographer on the state of the Northern Plains today, forcing us all to rethink our conceptions of America’s forgotten frontier. The photographs and narrative are by Jim Dow, edited with an essay by Laurel Reuter. It has 220 pages, 186 color images, hardcover and paperback. It was published by the North Dakota Museum of Art in collaboration with the Center for American Places.

The historic frontier life portrayed in "My Ántonia" and "Little House on the Prairie" may be long gone, but the idyllic small town still exists as a cherished icon of American community life. The fading communities, social upheaval, and enduring heritage of the Northern Plains are the subject of Jim Dow’s Marking the Land, a stirring photographic tribute to the complex and unyielding landscape of North Dakota.

In celebration of the publication of "Marking the Land: Jim Dow" in North Dakota, the North Dakota Museum of Art will bring Dow back to North Dakota for the unveiling of this book. He will make three appearances around the state in promotion of "Marking the Land." The schedule follows:

The North Dakota Museum of Art is located on Centennial Drive, Grand Forks. For more information call 777-495 or visit www.ndmoa.com. M-F 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.-- Brian Lofthus, Assistant to the Director, North Dakota Museum of Art, blofthus@ndmoa.com, 777-4195

Undergraduates in the NSF Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs from the Departments of Biology/PPT; Chemical Engineering/Chemistry and Physics will present their research in a poster session Thursday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Vennes Auditorium, School of Medicine and Health Sciences. It is open to everyone.-- Sally Pyle, Associate Professor, Biology, sally.pyle@und.nodak.edu, 777-3302

The final examination for David Georgina, a candidate for the Ph.D. degree with a major in teaching and learning, is set for 9 a.m. Monday, Aug. 13, in Room 206, Education Building. The dissertation title is "Integration of Technology in Higher Education Pedagogy." Myrna Olson (teaching and learning) is the committee chair. The public is invited to attend. -- Joseph Benoit, Dean, Graduate School, joseph.benoit@und.edu, 777-4005

The final examination for Valicia Boudry, a candidate for the Ph.D. degree with a major in Communication and Public Discourse, is set for 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 13, in 200 O'Kelly Hall. The dissertation title is "Ethnojournalism: A Hybrid Model of Ethnography and Journalism to Create Culturally Diverse News Content. Lana Rakow (communication) is the committee chair. The public is invited to attend. -- Joseph Benoit, Dean, Graduate School, joseph.benoit@und.edu, 777-4005

If you're looking for a fun-filled, hands-on experience learning to create professional designs, this is the workshop for you. "Design Retreat" is a unique workshop that applies a wholistic approach by integrating photography, illustration, and text into various print documents — and even includes how to publish those documents to the web. Participants will be involved in the entire design process, from conception to completion, guided by talented, enthusiastic graphics and photography professionals whose goal is to help you become a better designer.

"Design Retreat" will be offered from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, in the Department of Technology's Graphic Communication area, 235 Starcher Hall. Lunch, snacks, and refreshments are included in the $125 workshop fee.

To register for the workshop, e-mail Lynda Kenney at lynda.kenney@und.edu. The registration deadline is Friday, Aug. 10, at noon. Seating is limited to 20 participants.

The workshop is sponsored by the UND Graphics and Photography Society, and the Department of Technology.-- Lynda Kenney, Assistant Professor, Technology, lynda.kenney@und.edu, 777-2197

The annual staff information session (motto: get the latest information and make sure you're prepared to help students) will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, in Room 1, Gamble Hall. Distribution of materials is from 9:30 to 10 a.m. and speaker presentations will begin at 10 a.m. sharp.

Designed to provide updates on beginning-of-the-year programs and procedures, the session helps serve our students in the best and most knowledgeable ways possible.

Everyone is welcome. Come at 9:30 a.m. to be sure you have collected all the handouts and are ready for the presentations at 10 a.m.-- Patsy Nies, Special Project Assistant, Enrollment Services, patsynies@mail.und.nodak.edu, 777-3791

The Graduate School orientation sessions will be held Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 14-16, in the Lecture Bowl, Memorial Union.

All new graduate students are encouraged to attend Tuesday, Aug. 14, to learn about graduate school policies, procedures and many of the services offered to graduate students on campus. There will also be an information fair held in the River Valley Room from noon to 1:30 p.m. with many of the campus service units represented. The Graduate School’s picnic will be at 5 p.m. in University Park (Shelter No. 1) for all graduate students and their families, faculty and staff.

Wednesday, Aug. 15, is the GTA orientation for all new and prospective GTAs. Sessions include "Navigating the Semester as an Instructor," "Accommodating Students with Disabilities," "Fostering Student Interaction in the Classroom" and "Enhancing Understanding and Promoting Inclusiveness in the Classroom." There will also be an opportunity to meet with and ask questions of current GTAs. This session is open to all new graduate students and current graduate students who will become GTAs for the first time.

The GRA orientation is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 16, and is designed to address issues concerning research including "Intellectual Property and Ethics in Research."

If you would like to attend any of the sessions or the graduate school picnic please go to www.graduateschool.und.edu and click on orientation RSVP. This will ensure that we provide adequate information packets and catering.

The Institutional Review Board meeting that had been scheduled for Aug. 1 has been cancelled. The next meeting of the IRB will be at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in 305 Twamley Hall. All research proposals submitted to the Office of Research Development and Compliance before Tuesday, Aug. 28, will be reviewed.

Clinical medical projects must be reviewed by the clinical medical subcommittee before being brought to the full board. Proposals for these projects are due in the Office of Research Development and Compliance before Tuesday, Aug. 21.

Minutes from the meeting will be available in the RD&C approximately one week after the meeting. -- Kara Wettersten, chair, Institutional Review Board.

The sixth biennial joint conference of North Dakota/South Dakota EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) will be held Friday, Sept. 7, at the NDSU Memorial Union. The theme of the conference is “Achieving Success in the Competitive Research Environment.” Conference and poster presentation registration is now available on the web at www.ndepscor.nodak.edu. There is no cost to register and lunch is provided.

The conference is open to all, but faculty and students who receive support from ND EPSCoR are especially urged to attend and participate in this conference as a condition of their EPSCoR awards.

Several NSF program officers have accepted invitations to speak, and the North Dakota Congressional delegation have been invited to address the conference because of their key roles in supporting ND EPSCoR and increased federal research funding across the state.

An added feature of the program will be a session on cyber infrastructure (CI). Teragrid/Internet2 team members have been invited to address this NSF designated enabling technology which is expected to advance the frontiers of science. CI has become a priority area at NSF and the university research enterprise must become more connected regionally, nationally and internationally to remain competitive.

EPSCoR programs across NSF, NIH, DOE and NASA are all well positioned for budget increases, and the ND EPSCoR program, supported by NSF and the State of North Dakota, is up for recompetition in 2008. You are encouraged to attend the 2007 biennial joint conference to learn what your peers and their students are accomplishing in advancing North Dakota’s research agenda. Updated conference information and the agenda will soon be available on the web at www.ndepscor.nodak.edu.-- Gary Johnson, Interim Vice President for Research, Office of the Vice President for Research, garyejohnson@mail.und.nodak.edu, 701-777-2492

Final grade rosters for all remaining ungraded summer classes will be created in PeopleSoft on July 25, and will be available for grade entry starting July 26.

Grading instructions are available at: www.und.edu/dept/registrar/FacultyStaff/FacultyStaff.htm under faculty final grading in PeopleSoft.

Instructors who have already graded and approved their final rosters for classes that ended earlier this summer need not do anything further with respect to grades for those classes.

Please note: Grades are due no later than noon Tuesday, Aug. 7, (except for the 11 general sections and 32 linguistics classes scheduled to end after Aug. 7, which will be due on the last class day of each class). -- Registrar's office.

Last year's faculty/staff/student directory, which used PeopleSoft data for the first time, did not incorporate affiliated areas (those paid with other than University funds) into the main portion of the faculty/staff listings. We hope to merge the information this year, and ask that people from affiliated areas e-mail Jan Orvik (janorvik@mail.und.edu ) with their names, areas, and box numbers so that we can send forms that will ensure your inclusion. We already have information from some areas, such as the Alumni Association and Foundation, the Aerospace Foundation, Human Nutrition Research Center, but are seeking other areas that we may have missed.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 777-3621.-- Jan Orvik, Writer/Editor, University Relations, janorvik@mail.und.nodak.edu, 777-3621

Enrollment Management, a sub unit of the Division of Student and Outreach Services, is pleased to announce the creation of a new department to serve and enhance student success at the University of North Dakota. The Student Success Center combines three areas: Student Academic Services, University Learning Center, and Adult Re-entry programs. The mission of the Student Success Center is to provide programs and services to students who are first-year, transfer, or re-entering the collegiate environment to aid in the development and implementation of their educational plans and goals. Through the Center’s programs and services, students are empowered to develop the skills and abilities to make a positive adjustment within the campus community. Lisa Burger will serve as the Student Success Center director. The Student Success Center is located in Room 201, Memorial Union. The main telephone number for the Center is 777-2117. -- Lisa Burger, Director, Student Success Center, lisaburger@mail.und.nodak.edu, 777-4706

Orders for printing performed off campus do not need to go through the logo approval process. It is the departments' responsibility to ensure the University's logos and trademarks are used in accordance to the guidelines listed on the University Relations web site.

All off campus printing is required to be formally quoted or bid out by the Purchasing Department.-- Lani Caraway, Logo Coordinator, Purchasing, lanicaraway@mail.und.nodak.edu, 7-2132

Effective Aug. 1, the North Dakota State Fleet has adjusted their rental rates. One of the major impacts was due to fuel costs. To help alleviate the rising fuel costs, please remember to use state fleet refueling sites when traveling within the state of North Dakota. Also, effective June 1, UND has reactivated the surcharge to cover excess operating costs. The prices listed below includes the .023/mile and .23/hour surcharge.

The construction project on the Columbia Road overpass scheduled to be completed on Aug. 1 has been extended by 10 days. The new completion date for the project is now Saturday, Aug. 11. The work on the Columbia Road overpass is to repair a damaged finger joint. -- Facilities.

Below are the U2 workshops for Aug. 2-15. Visit our web site for more.

The ABC’s of Fire Extinguisher Use
Aug. 2, 9 to 10:30 a.m., Auxiliary Services Conference Room
This class will describe the different types of fire extinguishers, what the rating system used on extinguishers means, when to consider using a fire extinguisher and class participants will be given the opportunity to use an extinguisher in a controlled setting. Information gained in this class will be applicable to the work place, home and motor vehicles. Presenter: Tim Lee

Facilities Discoverer Reports Training
Aug. 6, 11 a.m. to noon, 361 Upson II
The billing charges from facilities will be posted to PeopleSoft in a summarized format. To access the detailed information, each department will need to have access to Discoverer reports and be trained on how to access the detail and summary information for their departments. These reports will break down the charges by individual work orders and/or projects. Presenter: Laura Thoreson.

Defensive Driving
Aug. 8, 6 to 10 p.m., 211 Skalicky Tech Incubator
This workshop is required by state fleet for all UND employees who drive state vehicles on a regular (monthly) basis, received a traffic violation, or had an accident while operating a state vehicle. Employees are encouraged to bring a family member (spouse and/or dependents). This workshop may also reduce your North Dakota insurance premiums and could possibly remove points from your driving record.
Presenter: Safety and security staff.

Employee Privacy and the Law
Aug. 9, 9 to 11 a.m., 305 Twamley Hall
How far can an employer go in making decisions on issues related to privacy in the workplace? Presenter: Desi Sporbert.

Records Disposal Procedures
Aug. 9, 1 to 2 p.m., 211 Skalicky Tech Incubator
During this workshop you will learn more about the process for destroying or transferring records that have passed their retention time limits. We’ll review the system used, discuss why it’s necessary to document, and take part in a hands-on run-through of the entire process. It’s fun to clean out, it’s easier to do than you think, and now’s the time to do it! Presenter: Chris Austin, records manager.

Generations in the Workplace
Aug. 15 and 20, 9 to 11 a.m., 211 Skalicky Tech Incubator
Learn about the four generations that are presently employed in the UND workforce. Participants will study each of the generations and learn about the unique characteristics of each. Instruction will also include how to adapt your communications and supervisory techniques, based on the tendencies of each generation. Presenter: Gretchen Schatz, Workforce Development coordinator.-- Sara Satter, U2 Program Assistant, Continuing Education, sarasatter@mail.und.edu, 777-2128

Welcome Weekend for incoming first-year students is just weeks away. Plans are being made to host information tables and tents for Move-In Day Friday, Aug. 17. Would you be willing to help? The information table is located in Wilkerson Hall and open Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Memorial Union and Wilkerson Service Desk will also serve as information tables and will be the only site available on Saturday. Materials about orientation schedules, maps, bus schedules, etc. will be ready and waiting for you.

Information tents are located near the Chester Fritz Auditorium and the University Avenue side of the Walsh quad. Both tents are open on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tents, signs, materials, and water for give away will be on-site.

We invite you to wear your department apparel to help promote your organization. Information to help answer questions, give directions, and provide telephone numbers will be there for you. The most fun part of this day is giving families and students your 'we're glad you're here' smile and welcome them to campus.

Sixty-two new freshman medical students, members of the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) Class of 2011, began their medical education Monday, Aug. 6, at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The students, 38 men and 24 women, range in age from 21 to 31 years, with the average age of 24. They come to medical school with degrees in various fields including biology, zoology, chemistry, clinical laboratory science, psychology, engineering, and even business administration and foreign languages.

Medical students' first week is dedicated to orientation, including introduction to the four-year medical education curriculum. Special emphasis is placed on the students' new roles as health care professionals and expectations of them as professionals.

On Monday, Aug. 6, under the curriculum which emphasizes "patient-centered learning," they begin to study their first patient, on paper. At the end of each week, typically, they meet with the physician-faculty member and the patient, in person, to discuss the physician's path of thinking concerning diagnosis and treatment and to better understand the patient's perspective and needs. This learning pattern will continue throughout their medical education.

Students' orientation concludes with the White Coat Ceremony at 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10 in the Reed T. Keller Auditorium at the UND medical school. They will be "cloaked" in white coats, the traditional garment of the physician, which have been donated by the North Dakota Medical Association. They also recite a modern version of the Oath of Hippocrates, an ancient vow to uphold basic professional principles, in the presence of family, friends and the faculty and staff of the school.

Each student also receives a book, "On Doctoring," edited by Richard Reynolds and John Stone, donated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a lapel pin engraved with the words, "Humanism in Medicine," donated by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

During the White Coat Ceremony, Robert Sticca, chair and professor of surgery at the UND medical school, will present the keynote address to students, their family and friends, and faculty and staff of the medical school. His talk is titled, "The Price of Greatness is Responsibility." -- School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The Office of Medical Education is seeking people willing to be patients for our medical students. You will help the students as they learn to take a patient’s medical history and practice their physical exam skills, and be paid $10 an hour for your participation.

We need a diverse group of healthy men and women, ages 18 to 80, with the following:
• a flexible schedule
• transportation to and from the University
• limited number of health problems/medications

We would need you only for one of the following Tuesday afternoons from 12:45 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. Sorry, you can’t come more than once. The afternoons are Aug. 21 and 28 and Sept. 4 and 11. During this time, you would be interviewed and examined by three different student physicians. The experience would be much the same as a visit to your own doctor’s office. You would be asked to share your personal medical history and allow the student to do a physical exam. This does not require shots, blood tests or other invasive procedures. Students are observed by physicians and all information given would be confidential. If there is medical or personal information you do not wish to share, you don’t have to.

If you are interested, please contact Dawn at 777-4028 in the Office of Medical Education as soon as possible. Please feel free to pass this information along to others you know who may be interested.-- Dawn Drake, Coordinator, Standardized Patient Program, Office of Medical Education, ddrake@medicine.nodak.edu, 701.777.4028

As school approaches the Salvation Army is collecting school supplies for low income families. Volunteer Bridge is a drop-off location for these items. Items that are needed include backpacks, notebooks, folders, crayons (large and small) rulers, markers, calculators, loos paper, scissors, 3-ring binders, Kleenex and pencil boxes. Backpacks are especially needed this year. If you prefer to donate money for new backpacks, you can send a check to the Salvation Army, 1600 University Ave. Please leave donated items at the Volunteer Bridge office, room 113A, Memorial Union. Items will be taken to the Salvation Army on Aug. 10. -- Linda Rains, Coordinator of Civic Leadership, Memorial Union, lindarains@mail.und.edu, 701-777-4076

Monique Vondall Rieke, director of the Native Media Center and Shelle Michaels, School of Communication, invite the University community to help us in our mission of support for our student soldier, Sgt. Frank Sage. Sgt. Sage is currently deployed with the North Dakota Army National Guard 132 QM for a year long deployment to Iraq. We will ship a care package to him at least monthly, and all support is appreciated. The first theme package will be “Operation Cool Down” to include items such as gum, hard candy, drink packets, sun screen etc. Drop off support items to the Native Media Center, 231 O’Kelly Hall, or the American Indian Center at 315 Princeton St. For more information, please contact Monique Vondall Rieke at 777– 6388, monique.vondall@und.edu or Shelle Michaels at 777-4116, shelle.michaels@und.edu.

The following position vacancies are available only to regular UND staff employees who have successfully completed their six-month probation period, earn annual and sick leave, receive BC/BS health insurance and TIAA-CREF or ND PERS retirement benefits. Current UND faculty, please contact Human Resources for eligibility.

Editor’s Note: Today’s headlines remind us that lots of people choose not to get along. Routine reportage of seemingly senseless acts of destructive violence—both by individuals and groups—clearly tell a compelling part of that story. Could it get any worse? A lot worse, says University of North Dakota Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of psychology and nationally recognized mediator Jim Antes.

Without behind-the-scenes conflict resolution strategies that include mediation, considerably more groups might resort to violence to “solve” their problem, says Antes, who also researches and publishes about mediation strategies and methodologies.

Among the methods used to nonviolently solve problems between individuals or groups, a process dubbed “transformative mediation” is changing non-judicial conflict resolution in the United States and elsewhere. Antes and his colleagues at the UND-based Conflict Resolution Center are among the country’s best-known proponents of this philosophy of mediation.

In this edition of the Faculty Q&A, Antes talks with Office of University Relations writer Juan Miguel Pedraza about mediation: what it is, what it isn’t, and what role it plays in today’s globalized—but insistently diverse—society.

OUR: Let’s start with the basics: what is mediation?

Antes: Broadly speaking, mediation is an opportunity for people who are in conflict to discuss issues of concern to them with the support of a third party—the mediator—who helps in that communication. The mediator supports a conversation about the conflict.

The people involved in that conflict can become clear about what their own concerns are, and the can become aware of the concerns of the other person. In that context, people can make decisions. Sometimes, you get a “Cumbaya” effect—people in conflict have resolved all of their differences and will work well in the future. Sometimes, it doesn’t quite work out that way, but at least people can get better sense of where the other person is coming from.

Historically, we see mediation as a conflict resolution strategy evolve from the labor movement. For a long time, mediation was a key option in labor-management disputes. In fact, President Martin Van Buren in 1838 facilitated the settlement of a strike by shipyard workers—it was the first government-mediated labor settlement in the country’s history. In 1947, Congress enacted the Taft-Hartley Act and shortly thereafter authorized the independent Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which is still active today. But it wasn’t until the 1960s that mediation moved into wider use, beyond labor disputes.

OUR: What is transformative mediation?

Antes: The term we apply to the model is the transformative approach, but there’s certainly a lot more to it than the label. It’s basically about understanding what happens to people in conflict. The frame for this is that we’re not at our best when we’re in conflict. We become relatively weak, we feel disempowered, we can’t think clearly; you hear people in such situations saying “man, my mind was racing, I couldn’t think of what to say.” Second, as a self protective measure, in a conflict situation, we become self-absorbed, we’re less able to look at perspectives other than our own as normally we can; in conflict, we have a limited view of things.

So in the transformative mediation model, we have this fundamental understanding of conflict: there’s disempowerment, and there’s self absorption. It boils down to this: “I feel bad, you stink.” The transformative mediator supports interaction between the parties to move from that state, to move to a sense of greater clarity and more openness to other perspectives. So in transformative mediation, the parties go from disempowerment to greater strength, from self absorption to greater empathy or recognition of the other side.

And unlike what happens in court, the mediator doesn’t push any decisions for the parties; they make those decisions for themselves.

OUR: It sounds like this could be an ideal way to solve problems between people—maybe even between groups as large as countries—before going to court or war.

Antes: Well, mediation isn’t appropriate in every case and it’s not for every person. But it has been seen as a process that is an alternative to traditional legal means. It’s one of several processes other than the traditional court process that are sometimes called alternative dispute resolution processes. A lot of mediators also are attorneys, and some of them refer to themselves as “recovering attorneys” because these alternative processes are typically less adversarial. Sometimes, mediation is recommended by judicial system as a means to streamline the caseload or to clear the dockets for more complex cases. Certainly, the legal community is well aware about mediation.

OUR: So what is the major difference between a trial or other legal process and mediation?

Antes: Mediation is a way to address the issues differently; in a trial setting, you—usually through your attorney—give your best shot at presenting your side of the story. Your opponent in court does the same thing. However, someone else — a neutral party, usually the judge or the jury — decides the outcome for you. So, you have a strong advocate but you can’t directly affect the outcome.

Mediation is a whole other way of looking at conflict. It’s not other people who decide, it’s the participants, parties themselves who decide. Therefore it’s probably not in your best interest to be such an outspokenly strong advocate for “your side” because you’re trying to work something out with someone else who has a difference of opinion over whatever the issue is. You have the opportunity to engage in a productive conversation with the other person and to make decisions with a more complete understanding of everyone’s perspective.

UND professor, students dig their way to historical knowledge on Cyprus

UND history professor William Caraher has just returned from another successful season on the Pyla-Koutsopetria archaeological project on the island of Cyprus. See Caraher’s blog at http://www.und.edu/dept/our/cyprus.html.

Two UND graduate students, Brandon Olson and David Terry, and UND alumnus, Joe Patrow, an independent documentary filmmaker, and an international team of experts worked on the ancient Roman site to figure out what life was like on this once-vital trading community. The site now is part of British military base.

“During the course of the survey, we discovered several prominent architectural features including the complete circuit of a Late Roman fortification walls,” notes Caraher, who also has worked as the team’s chief technology officer. “This fortification is perhaps the best preserved non-urban, Late Roman fortification on the island.”

The team also completed its catalogue of diagnostic and notable artifacts collected during the previous three field seasons and continued its study of the painted plaster and molded gypsum excavated from the site of Pyla-Koutsopetria by Cyprus-based archaeologist Maria Hadjicosti.

Patrow, a master’s degree graduate of UND’s history program, produced a film about the project last year and collected lots more footage this year that will be incorporated into a longer documentary about the Pyla-Koutsopetria project.

You can find more information about Caraher and this project by following these links:
http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/wcaraher/
http://www.chss.iup.edu/pkap/
http://mediterraneanworld.typepad.com/

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) prepared for the upcoming September launch of its Dawn mission, it called on University of North Dakota planetary geologist Mike Gaffey for advice. Gaffey, a professor and interim chair of space studies at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, is an internationally recognized and honored expert in asteroids and meteorites.

He spent a week recently with NASA Dawn mission planners and other asteroid-savvy scientists nailing down details of this critical mission to explore the origins and development of our solar system. The Dawn probe will fly to Ceres and Vesta, the largest intact protoplanets in our astronomical neighborhood; Ceres and Vesta orbit the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Gaffey explains.

“At the NASA Dawn symposium, we discussed what we know about these two bodies and that knowledge reveals about the origin and evolution of planetary systems such as ours,” notes Gaffey, who last year won the coveted Planetary Division of the Geological Society of America G. K. Gilbert Award and the Meteoritical Society Leonard Medal for his pace-setting research.

“We also reviewed the objectives of the Dawn mission and the payload andoperations of the spacecraft,” says Gaffey, who recently won the UND Foundation/Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Award for Excellence in Research. “The Dawn spacecraft will orbit around Vesta from October 2011 to April 2012 and will offer us the opportunity to probe these questions.”

NASA says Dawn will deliver images of varied landscapes on previously unseen worlds including mountains, lava flows, polar caps and, possibly, ancient lakebeds. Students can follow the mission over an entire K-12 experience as the mission is built, cruises to Vesta and Ceres, and returns data. The public will be able to participate through the Solar System Ambassadors and through participation on the Dawn Web site. Mike Gaffey web site: http://www.space.edu/gaffey.asp NASA Dawn Web site: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/

Director of Athletics Tom Buning announced the hiring of Sami Strinz as head softball coach, making her the 13th head coach in the history of the program. Strinz will also oversee the Student Athlete Advisory Council and the life skills program.

Strinz most recently served as head coach at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D., for the past two seasons. After inheriting a program that had averaged five wins over the previous five seasons, Strinz engineered a two-year turnaround that saw the Tigers win a school-record 17 games in 2007 and place seven student-athletes on the All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), including the schools first-ever all-conference first team selection. Strinz also guided Dakota Wesleyan to its first GPAC Tournament berth in school history.

Prior to arriving at Dakota Wesleyan, Strinz spent the 2005 season as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Division I Louisiana Tech, where she helped the Bulldogs set school records for home runs and doubles.

Strinz' Division I playing and coaching experience, along with her recruiting ties to the central states and the west coast, will help UND quickly elevate softball to the next level, said Buning. In addition, there is no denying the intense energy and enthusiasm she brings to the responsibility of being our new head coach.

Added Strinz: "I'm really excited for the opportunity to lead the Sioux in transition to Division I. This is a very exciting time for UND Athletics and I am grateful to be a part of it. I'm looking forward to making a positive impact on the team, University and community."

Strinz earned her bachelor's degree in liberal studies with a minor in sociology from Division I Loyola Marymount in 2004. While at Loyola, Strinz was a four-year letterwinner and three-year all-conference performer as a pitcher and designated player, capturing Pacific Coast Conference Player of the Year accolades as a junior in 2003. As a senior, Strinz was an all-conference first team and all-region second team selection. She ranks second on LMU's all-time home runs list.

A Keizer, Ore., native, Strinz was an assistant coach and player for the Ireland National softball team during the summer of 2002 while serving in the same capacities for the U-Best womens softball team out of Salem, Ore., from 2000 to 2003. Strinz is currently pursuing her master's degree in elementary education.

The Fighting Sioux went 23-28 overall and 4-9 in the North Central Conference last season. -- Athletics.